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"Himalayan Environment Trust aims to restore the pristine glory of the Himalayas"
Sir Edmund Hillary, 1919-2008
Legacy
In the wake of increasing degradation of some of the Himalayan areas due to unprecedented growth in the number of visitors, the Himalayan Environment Trust was founded by Himalayan Legends on 14 Oct 1989 to restore the Himalayas to their pristine glory.
Legacy Founders
Late Sir Edmund Hillary
KG, ONZ, K.B.E.
Patron
First Man in the world, along with the Late Tenzing Norgay, to climb Everest on May 29, 1953.
Edmund Percival Hillary was born on July 26, 1919 in Auckland. New Zealand. His first trip to the Himalayas was in 1951. Hillary was leader of the New Zealand expedition to the Antarctic and made the first journey overland with tractors to the South Pole in 1977.
Hillary led an expedition up the Ganges River nicknamed ‘From the Ocean in The Sky’, During 1985-89 Hillary served as High Commissioner for New Zealand to India and Bangladesh and Ambassador to Nepal. In April 1985 Hillary visited the North Pole with Neil Amstrong.
He was a Director of the International Committee of the World Wildlife Fund and Founder Chairman or the Himalayan Trust which is deeply involved in medical and educational assistance to the mountain people of the Himalayas.
Captain M.S. Kohli
Padmabhushan
I.N (Retd) AVFM FRGS
Chairman
First Man in the World to conceive and promote on commercial and global basis ‘Trekking in the Himalayas‘.
Internationally renowned mountaineer, Captain M.S. Kohli led the first successful Indian expedition to Mount Everest in 1965 which put nine climbers on the summit - a world record which India held for 17 years.
He belongs to the exclusive band of three climbers who in 1962 survived three harrowing days in the death zone of Everest, above 27,650 feet, most of the time without oxygen. Captain Kohli has 14 major expeditions to his credit. These include his leadership of Indian Navy‘s challenging ascent of Nanda Kot in 1959, India’s most dramatic and maiden ascent of Annapurna III in 1961 and world’s longest and top-secret lndo-American expedition to Nanda Devi and Nanda Kot from 1965 to 1968. In 1977, he joined Sir Edmund Hillary in ‘From the Ocean to the Sky", jet-boat expedition.
Captain Kohli became President of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation in 1989. He has authored 29 books.
Junko Tabei
First Woman in the World to Climb Everest, in 1975
Junko Tabei was born in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan in 1939. In the late 1960s mountaineering became her main passion and she joined the Japanese Alpine Club in 1968.
In 1992 she completed her quest to scale the highest mountain on each oi the seven continents, i.e. Everest, Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, Mc Kinley, Elbrus, Vinson Massif and Carstenz Pyramid.
Concurrent with her mountaineering activities, she was named Japanese representative of the Himalayan Adventure Trust Japan (HAT-J) in early 1991.
She was awarded ‘Gurkha Dakshin Bahu’ by the Nepalese Government.
Trustee
Richard S. Blum
First Man in the World to take up the challenge of the difficult East Face or Everest.
Richard C. Slum was born on July 31, 1935. He is the Founder and Chairman of the American Himalayan Foundation and Honorary Consul General, Kingdom of Nepal, for the Western United States, a recipient of the National Medal from the King of Nepal and Man of the Year San Francisco Renaissance Award. In 1981 he led the first ever attempt on Everest from the East Face.
His wife Dianne Feinstein, former Mayor of San Francisco, is the Senior US Senator from California. They constitute a formidable team, and have used their influence with both the Government of China and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, to negotiate tor reconciliation between the two.
Richard Blum has emerged as a powerful and dedicated voice for Himalayan causes in the United States.
Trustee
Reinhold Messner
Trustee
First man in the world to climb all the fourteen, eight thousand metre plus peaks in the so called death zone, and to climb Everest without oxygen and also solo.
Reinhold Messner was born on September 17, 1944, in Brixten, Italy.
He did the maiden traverse of Nanga Parbat, the first hat trick of 8000 metre peaks-Kangchenzonga, Gasherbrum II and Broad Peak in 1932. He also holds the record of doing first double traverse of two eight thousand metre peaks - Gasherbrum and Gasherbrum II in 1984.
In 1989-90 he crossed Antarctica via South Pole by foot, 2800 km. He has traversed Bhutan, Greenland, Takla Makan and Sinkiang. Reinhold, is author of over 30 books.
Late Maurice Herzog
First Man in the World to climb an 8000 metre peak, in the so called death zone thus breaking a great barrier in human endeavour.
Maurice Herzog was born in 1919. He created history by his dramatic ascent of Annapurna l (8075 m) on 3rd May, 1950 along with Louis Lachenal.
Severely frost bitten and hospitalised, from his hospital bed, he dictated the story of his climb that became a classic and a text book in many schools all over the world. With the ascent of Annapurna l, commenced the Golden Age of Himalayan Climbs.
He has been a member of the International Olympic Committee for many years. He is very active and spends considerable time towards Himalayan causes.
He is associated with a number of national and international organisation.
Trustee
Sir Chris Bonington
First climber to take up the challenge of major face climbs in the Himalayas.
Chris Bonington was born on August 6. 1934 in Hampstead, London. He led and had been on 20 Himalayan expeditions, including 4 to Everest which he climbed in 1985 at the age of fitty one. He has made many first ascents which include Annapurna ll, Nuptse, and Central Pillar of Freney.
He was Leader of the successful Annapurna South Face Expedition in 1975.
His awards include CBE, Sheffield, Hon. MA Salford, Hon. DSc, Lancaster. Hon. Fellow, Lancashire Polytechnic, Founders Medal, Royal Geographical Society, Lawrence of Arabia Medal of the Royal Asian Society and Livingstone Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.
He was knighted by the Queen in 1996. He is author of 13 books.
CBE
Trustee
Sushil Gupta
Leading –Indian industrialist, Philanthrope and Himalayan lover
Sushil Gupta, born in Amritsar, India on January 5, 1944 is a leading figure in the hospitality sector in India today.
He is the Managing Director of Asian Hotels Ltd. which is managing hotels in all over India under the Brand of Hyatt Regency. He is Chairman of the Gangotri Conservation Project (HET INDIA).
He is on the board of many reputed companies of India and is an executive member of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). He has been elected as Director of Rotary international - Zone 5&6 (South Asia) for 2003-2005.
He is fully committed and devoted to the cause of Himalayan environment. His other interests include Pranic Healing and Lawn Tennis.
